When it comes to health-care spending in Canada, there isn’t a lot of variance between provinces, according to Joe Farago, executive director of private payers and investment at Innovative Medicines Canada. In a session at Benefits Canada’s 2019 Halifax Benefits Summit on Sept. 24, he said prescription drugs’ percentage of the total health-care budget has been fairly consistent, at 15 […]
Prescription drug costs for public drug plans covering most of Canada increased 7.4 per cent in 2017/18 to reach $11.4 billion, according to a new report by the Patented Medicine Prices Review Board. It’s a significant increase compared to the more modest 1.9 per cent growth in prescription drug costs from 2016/17. The board looked at data […]
Plan sponsors are increasingly adopting plan design tools to manage their drug plan costs, according to Telus Health’s annual drug trends report. It found private plan drug costs have grown 0.3 per cent per year on average for the past 10 years, made up of an average 2.1 per cent annual decrease in the cost […]
Industry groups had mixed feelings about an expert panel’s report calling for a single-payer pharmacare plan. Released on Wednesday by Eric Hoskins, former Ontario health minister, the report recommended Canada and the provinces work together to create a unified program that addresses the country’s patchwork of prescription drug plans. Provinces and territories, the panel said, […]
Between 2000 and 2015, antidepressant drug consumption doubled in Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development countries. This is potentially a reflection of people’s growing willingness to admit they need help, the availability of therapies and general attitudes around mental-health issues. However, the consumption varies between countries, with Canada one of the top consumers. Nancy Tibbo, […]
Canadian insurers expect health costs to rise by 11.55 per cent this year, according to a new report by Accompass Inc. The annual survey determines the anticipated year-over-year cost increase or decrease — or health trend factor — by asking insurers to examine their businesses and take various factors into account, including legislation and reforms, economic events […]
Health Canada has proposed amendments to the Food and Drug Regulations that would make it easier for drug companies to get authorization to produce generic versions of brand name drugs. The amendments would allow Health Canada to more quickly to approve generic drug applications that have the same active ingredients as their brand name equivalent […]
Brand-name drug companies could put off introducing new medicine in Canada and scale back research here if the country makes a major shift to cheaper generic alternatives under a national pharmacare plan, according to an internal federal analysis. The concerns were included last year in a briefing document for federal Finance Minister Bill Morneau that […]
Though many plan sponsors are still using step therapy to manage drug plan costs, pharmacogenetic testing is receiving attention as more providers enter the market, lower the cost and familiarize employers and insurers with the technology. As it becomes more sophisticated, there’s more information about how pharmacogentic testing works, says Sandra Ventin, associate vice-president at […]
The Canadian Life and Health Insurance Association is asking the Ontario government to act cautiously in welcoming private label products under the provincial drug program and allowing them to be interchangeable with other products. Presently, the Ontario Drug Benefit Act doesn’t list private label products as drug products, meaning they’re not eligible for public funding under the drug benefit program. […]